Missouri Post-Game Quotes
8/31/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 31, 2002
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Missouri Head Coach Gary Pinkel:
On the game:
"I'm proud of my football team. When you're building a program, so much is about attitude and being able to handle adversity and fighting through it. Certainly we're not there. This is not the answer to the program. This is certainly a great testament to my football team. I keep telling people this has been a tough eight months. ... The best feeling a football coach can have is looking players in the eyes after a hard-fought win and tell them 'Great job,' and I got to do that today."
On Brad Smith:
"If I told people I thought he was going to play like that, I'd be lying, and I'm not going to lie to you. I told many people behind the scenes that this guy is a remarkably talented athlete with remarkable poise. To play like that, first game, 18 years old, I'm just glad he's on my team, and I'm glad he's a freshman."
On the play of Antwaun Bynum:
"This is the second year he's gotten a chance to play defensive end. Last year he moved from linebacker to defensive end. He's worked to get better. He's from St. Louis, and this game meant a lot to him. We played our field defensive end out to the boundary, and that really helped him. We got that idea from Virginia Tech. It allows him to play in space out in the field, and that enables him to really use his talents and turn out a great performance."
Missouri kick returner Marcus James
On kick returns:
Coach Pinkel drills us and drills us on field position and how important that is, and I take it upon myself to get it as far up the field as I can and get the offense off to a good start.
On the win:
"It's great to start off the season 1-0. We're going to build on this. I hope they're running out of tickets at Faurot Field because everyone wants to see what the Tigers are all about."
Missouri linebacker James Kinney
On his fumble recovery and return for a touchdown:
"I didn't know it was a fumble; I just picked up the ball. No one seemed to know, and then Coach (Pinkel) started screaming to run. I was still confused about what was going on."
Missouri linebacker Sean Doyle
On hard work paying off:
"We worked hard all summer long, so we can come out here and get a victory. We're going to build on this and keep working hard, and hopefully we'll keep earning victories."
Missouri quarterback Brad Smith
On his first game:
"When I first came out and saw the people screaming, I was a little intimidated, but we got right to business, marched right down the field and scored on our first possession, and that helped settle everyone down."
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Illinois Head Coach Ron Turner
On the game:
"I don't want to take anything from Missouri, but we didn't play like we were capable. Our offense was tentative. I think we played not to lose instead of to win."
On the quarterback situation:
"Dustin Ward is the starting quarterback. There is no controversy. We have two quarterbacks we think we can win with, and I felt we needed to spark the second half."
On Missouri quarterback Brad Smith:
"It was tough to prepare for Brad Smith because we had never seen him before. I was impressed with him as an athlete and with his poise."
On Missouri's pass rush and blitzes:
"We didn't execute against the blitz very well. We should have made adjustments and didn't. The quarterback has to see the blitz and get rid of the ball. Our quarterbacks didn't handle the blitz."
Illinois quarterback Dustin Ward
On Missouri's blitzes:
"I thought we did an all-right job of reacting to them (blitzes) on the field today."
On playing with an edge:
"I don't know why there wasn't an edge; I don't know why people didn't come up more."
Illinois linebacker Joe Bevis
On Missouri's game plan:
"They had a really good plan for us. We came out and played OK at times, but didn't play up to our standards at other times. They were the better team today, and they played to win."
Illinois flanker Brandon Lloyd
On Illinois' pregame mindset:
"We had a great camp, probably the best camp ever. We had a great week of preparation, and we came out and had a lack of focus. They're a good football team, and they took advantage of that."
On the Illinois quarterback situation:
"Dustin (Ward) definitely didn't get pulled. Coach Turner was trying to change things up and give us a spark. We have two capable quarterbacks, and that just proves it. Dustin did not get pulled."
